The importance of the No. 1 seed, and lines a mystery as Sharks-Wings get ready for tonight

DETROIT — The same question came up for both coaches: Really, how important is it to hold the No. 1 seed when the playoffs open?

And both Mike Babcock and Todd McLellan had similar answers.

“We’ve been the No. 1 seed all three years that I’ve been here,” Babcock said. “It worked for us once and it didn’t work twice. How’s that?

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McLellan also referred to his time in Detroit as Babcock’s assistant.

“Based on my past experience, we’ve been No. 1 and lost in the first round, we’ve been No. 1 and won the championship,” the Sharks coach said. “That’s probably the best answer I can give you. It doesn’t really matter when the playoffs start. Obviously home ice is nice, but a lot of teams have won the Stanley Cup without having it.”

All that said, players on both sides did talk as if finishing No. 1 would be helpful, and McLellan even backpedaled just a little bit.

“That extra night in your own bed, the ability to play for your own fans if it gets that far always works in your favor, I believe,” he added. “And that ‘s what we’re really competing for down the stretch here. But in the end does it really mean that much? I’m not too sure.”

*******Both teams had optional skates this morning. For the Sharks, only two players didn’t skate: Patrick Marleau and Ryane Clowe. Both were around, however, to assure anybody that they’re fine and McLellan wasn’t expressing any concern.

“Optional is optional,” he said. “It’s that time of the year. We’re on the road for nine of 12, they have to make some decisions that effect their level of play. Whether it’s rest or going out to work on their game, we’re going to allow them the opportunity to make those down the stretch.”

It also made it hard to figure out what line combinations McLellan will start out with tonight, and that was just fine with him.

“We’re still throwing things around as a coaching staff, trying to put things together,” was all he would say.

Brad Lukowich was the last defenseman entering the locker room after the skate this morning and that’s usually a sign of who won’t be playing that night. McLellan said it would be a gametime decision, but I’d be surprised if Alexei Semenov isn’t in the lineup instead of Lukowich, who was pretty critical of his own play in Dallas on Monday night.

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********More questions for the Red Wings about Claude Lemieux and more questions for Lemieux about playing in Detroit, but I figure that topic has been covered pretty thoroughly and just let it go at that.

********This will be Brad Stuart’s first game since Jan. 20 when he crashed into the boards, injuring his ribs and spine. Today the ex-Shark said he was actually lucky that the damage wasn’t worse and that it was just a coincidence that he’s returning against his first NHL team.

I asked if it felt odd seeing Jody Shelley in a Sharks uniform, considering it was Shelley who sent Stuart to the injured reserve list with a serious concussion several years ago. Stuart said, yeah, when he first heard about the trade that brought Shelley to San Jose, he thought it was a little strange.

“Now, whatever,” Stuart said. “He’s obviously a player they think can add a dimension to their team that they needed. You’ve got to have guys like that and he was available. It doesn’t bother me.

“You’ve got to have a short memory in this game,” Stuart added. “And that goes for everything – the way you’ve been playing, the way things have happened. The shorter memory you have in this game, the better.”

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.

Why would you move a bunch of players and picks to end up with Laraque? He’s the same exact player as Shelley?!

same age, same skill level, even fighter….

tadpole

151 SactoShark…actually, remember the last time those two fought? George kicked Jody’s butt…but hey. I thought I would throw out some rediculous trade ideas just like everyone else…because the Sharks are doing nothing major this week. Beside, I’m not sure Laraque would be the right fit for the Sharks…if he wants to be traded for sitting one game, that’s not the person I would have… ah well.

wolfgang

OK, Sharks did retaliate for the hit Thorton absolutley set up, braced himself for, turned to see if there was a penalty, looked up to see if he was able to get a fight started, drew the call for and didn’t miss a shift on. Even we bought the act as live. Joe’s good.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvjzjXrvzJ0
The difference is that Drew didn’t want us to see it, there was no call (should have been interference, elbow and cross check). Hossa is still out I think the Sharks stood tall and took there cheap shots. Nobody in the NHL is thinking Cleary got a way with something.

I drop a leave a response whenever I like a article on a site or I have something to contribute to the conversation. It is caused by the fire displayed in the post I browsed. And after this article 301 Moved Permanently. I was excited enough to drop a thought 🙂 I do have a few questions for you if it’s okay. Is it simply me or does it look like a few of the responses appear like they are coming from brain dead individuals? 😛 And, if you are writing at additional online social sites, I’d like to keep up with you. Would you list all of all your shared pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?